A group of visitors to Antarctica filmed this incredibly close encounter with some humpback whales.<br /><br />The video, which was captured in February, shows the marine mammals surfacing inches from the tourists but taking great care not to rock their small inflatable boat.<br /><br />"Several times the whales came so close I had to remove my GoPro from the water for fear of touching them,'" the filmer said.<br /><br />"Despite their size and proximity they never once touched or disturbed our boat," the filmer added.<br /><br />Humpback whales appear to be thriving in Antarctica.<br /><br />A report published in the journal Royal Society Open Science this month says that humpbacks who live and breed in the southern oceans near Antarctica are making a comeback, with females in recent years having a high pregnancy rate and giving birth to more calves.<br /><br />Humpback whales were almost hunted out of existence in the 19th and 20th centuries.
